(September 27, 2012)-- One of the most awesome things about Twitter for tennis fans is that you don't have to adhere to one particular narrative. Tangents are the norm, and anybody with a computer and some broadband is an industry insider.

Case in point: Today I was busying myself with trying to find out whether or not Serena Williams was going to pull out of Beijing with flu-like symptoms when I ran across this random tweet by Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times. The tweet itself has nothing to do with anything that is going on at the moment, but it has everything to do with why we, as tennis fans, are attracted to Twitter. Because it's free, it's all over the map, it's informative (ridiculously so), and it never stops.

Twitter for tennis fans is the convenience store that never closes. 24/7, baby.

One minute you are checking the Tokyo scores and the next you are reminiscing about the 2008 U.S. Open final. Remember how fascinated Jelena Jankovic was with seeing herself on the big screen during that match? I do. Remember where you were when that match was going on? I do (but I'd rather not say). I wasn't on Twitter, and I don't even know if Twitter even existed back then.

Wow, how things have changed in four year's time. Jelena Jankovic was World No. 2, and the world as we know it was just beginning to take shape.

Stumbled across this, had forgotten just how great this final was. Serena vs. Jankovic, 2008 US Open. youtu.be/9VsI6zC6SUU